Yama Laurent: Artist, Advocate, Voice of Purpose

There’s a moment in every artist’s story when the world suddenly makes sense. For Yama Laurent, it came inside a Dominican church choir, surrounded by students far from home. At 21, pursuing medicine while secretly writing poems, she discovered something far more transformative than a stethoscope: the power to shift lives through music and voice.

Today, Yama stands as a singer, UNICEF ambassador, and Inclusion Solidaire advocate, though these descriptions only begin to capture the complexity of her identity. Her narrative isn’t about choosing between a medical career and an artistic one. It’s about refusing to be limited by false choices.

The Unconventional Journey

Born in Léogâne, Haiti, and raised across multiple continents, Yama’s trajectory resists the neat narrative we expect from performing artists. She was supposed to become a doctor. Her family held this expectation. The educational system reinforced it. But when her university peers heard her voice, not simply its technical proficiency but the emotional depth embedded within it, perspectives began to shift. ‘You have a kind of different voice,’ they reflected back to her. ‘You have a beautiful way of talking about what matters.’

What followed was a challenging race against bureaucratic systems. After five years of medical study in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and months of collective effort to gather $2,000 for entry into a US talent competition, visa obstacles created an unexpected redirection. The Haitian government extended a Canada visa offer instead. It wasn’t the intended path. Yet sometimes destiny offers superior directions.

The journey led her to Quebec, where in 2018, Yama Laurent became the first Haitian woman to win La Voix (The Voice Canada), triumphing with 60% of the popular vote. Many had long anticipated this defining moment.

Sound as Healing

Yama speaks about her craft with the analytical precision of someone trained in medicine: ‘I don’t want to sing just to have people hear my voice. I want to use my voice to tell stories, to share my emotion, to bring hope and remind people of their own strength.’

This is not performance as entertainment spectacle. This is music functioning as witness, as testimony. Every composition she performs carries the layered weight of her identity: Haiti’s profound resilience, the Dominican Republic’s generosity, Canada’s sanctuary. Yet it transcends the personal. It speaks to something universal: the recognition that every person carries a narrative, and every person merits being heard.

Her ambassadorship with UNICEF flows seamlessly from her artistic vision. It isn’t a parallel initiative but rather the natural continuation of her core mission. Having lived the contrast between the hardship of survival in Haiti and the possibilities accessible in Canada, she felt compelled to act. Not from obligation, but from genuine responsibility. The kind that emerges when you understand that visibility is a resource, and that a voice is a megaphone for change.

Purpose Beyond Boundaries

Through her work with Inclusion Solidaire, Yama has discovered an organization that embodies her personal conviction: inclusion is not a slogan or marketing term, it is a fundamental necessity. As an ambassador, she leverages her platform to amplify underrepresented communities, particularly women, children, and emerging generations. ‘I think all the people need their place,’ she says with quiet certainty. ‘I think we need to connect together to make a better world.’

In conversation, what becomes evident is that Yama refuses to compartmentalize her aspirations. She absolutely seeks to create meaningful music. She wants to carry her cultural heritage and ancestral stories to global audiences. Yet she remains deliberate about the definition of success she pursues. She’s not chasing ephemeral celebrity or hollow achievements. She’s building legacy. She’s creating impact that endures.